A Falcon 9 rocket accident last month should not eliminate SpaceX from the competition to launch a new GPS satellite, U.S. Air Force Secretary Deborah James said on Wednesday, since there would be "plenty of time" to test the rocket before any future launch.

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said an investigation into Sunday's explosion shortly after launch of one of the company's Falcon 9 rockets will ground the rockets for several months but less than a year.

The Army is expected to launch a massive counter-insurgency operation in Manipur, where 18 soldiers were killed in an ambush by militants on Thursday. Army Chief Gen Dalbir Singh is on his way to capital Imphal.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) got new directors for its spaceport at Sriharikota, and the rocket design and assembling and liquid propulsion systems centres at Thiruvananthapuram, it was announced on Monday.

Russia on Saturday lost a Mexican satellite on launch just hours after a glitch with a manoeuvre involving the International Space Station, the latest in a string of embarrassing failures for its troubled space programme.

Taliban insurgents shot rockets onto a US base outside Kabul and targeted Afghan government buildings in a provincial capital today, as they officially launched their spring offensive in a year that has already seen fierce fighting.